I’ll come right and say it – I am opposed to [...]]]> With the end of daylight saving in Western Australia this weekend the people of Western Australia are set to vote in roughly six weeks on this surprisingly divisive and emotive topic and so it is time for me to weigh in with my 2 penneth worth.

I’ll come right and say it – I am opposed to daylight saving. Even if I weren’t opposed to it then the manner in which it was foisted upon the people of Western Australia three years ago was certainly not democratic. Despite at least two previous votes on the issue returning a negative, the powers that be decided that we must suffer it for three years. There was no consultation, instead we had adjust to it. Surely, those who push for the introduction of daylight saving argued, once they try it, they’ll like it. I certainly don’t like my democratic rights being eroded.

Putting that aside there are a number of issues with daylight saving most of which are best examined by looking at the arguments of its proponents. Daylight saving, it is argued, benefits the business community in Western Australia by reducing the time difference between WA and the Eastern States. While this is true Sydney and Melbourne are still in a time zone two hours ahead of Perth. However, due to daylight saving WA is now one hour ahead of our neighbours in Singapore and China. These countries are WA’s trading and business partners, not t’othersiders. The argument holds no water.

Proponents of daylight saving also argue that it allows people to take advantage of the extra hour of daylight in the evening. This is certainly a benefit if you want to go to the beach at 8 o’clock at night, but for most people, most of the time this hour of daylight is wasted. They still get home from work at 5:30 or 6:00 o’clock (when it is still hot) and are still tired. People have a routine where they like to unwind, cook tea, relax and go to bed. As summer progresses daylight saving begins to effect those who prefer their extra hour of daylight in the morning. By the end of February it is dark at 6 o’clock in the morning under daylight saving. Those who prefer mornings to evenings are severely limited by daylight saving.

Daylight saving is not environmentally friendly. Because people come home when the solar time is an hour earlier than without daylight saving they are more likely to turn on the air conditioner than an hour later and keep it on for an hour longer. Further into daylight saving people are having to use lights early in the morning because it is dark. There are issues, too, with regard to road safety where people are driving to work in the dark when visibility is lower.

Daylight saving is also responsible to disrupted sleep patterns. The effect is similar to jet lag and there are a number of health issues related to poor sleep patterns. Parents also report that is hard to put small children to bed while is light outside, meaning that those children have disturbed sleep patterns too.

Is this wartime? Do we need to extra hour of daylight to get the crops in? No! So why do we have to suffer daylight saving?

The post links to the home page of a movement called New Urbanism. Briefly:

The New Urbanism is a reaction to sprawl. A growing [...]]]> It is sometimes said that great minds think alike. Through a link on Boing Boing I came upon this post about the redevelopment of shopping malls as they slowly die into real community centres.

The post links to the home page of a movement called New Urbanism. Briefly:

The New Urbanism is a reaction to sprawl. A growing movement of architects, planners, and developers, the New Urbanism is based on principles of planning and architecture that work together to create human-scale, walkable communities.

If this isn’t directly what I have been talking about…

These developments provide cheap(ish) housing for those unable to afford property [...]]]> As discussed in Inner City Life Perth has suffered from urban planning centred around the car. This has led to urban sprawl of epic proportions as the coastal plain between the Darling Ranges and the Indian Ocean from Yanchep to Mandurah slowly fills with housing developments.

These developments provide cheap(ish) housing for those unable to afford property closer to the city and those wishing to fulfil the “Australian Dream” of building their own home.

Sadly the reality of these areas is unappealing. Houses built “off the plan” seldom differing in more than the choice of brick or colour of render line up in rows of monotony on roads like mazes without footpaths. Parks and communal areas fill the gaps between blocks where the developer couldn’t fit another home in a meagre effort to meet some stipulation or by-law of the council. Without a car the denizens of these vast estates are unable to access even the most basic of goods and services. There is no sense of community and people living next door to each other are often strangers.

It makes one ask two questions. Firstly, how did this state of affairs come about? Secondly, what is the alternative.

One solution is to build new developments on a model that makes them more than a dormitory and fosters a sense of community. Imagine, if you will, a community built around a central, pedestrianised hub. This centre would contain all of the needs of the local population – libraries, a shopping area (with real shops not supermarkets), post office, medical centre etc. – and from it would radiate a the homes. From each home it would be possible to walk to the centre on a series of paths and parks. Every such development would have its own, self-contained public transport system and a public transport link to other such areas and the main transport routes.

To relieve the need for people to travel to work each area would have provision for office space, government departments might devolve to the area and space for light industry would exist.

Each self-contained area would have a focus on providing for the needs of the local community. Events would be organised and run at the hub. Community groups such as arts, mothering and other interests would exist and through these people would make connections.

Seems like a better way to me.